In a man-made underground society, descendants of a banished generation vie for control of the
crumbling city of Lux. Ichise, an orphan turned prize fighter, loses a leg and an arm to satisfy an
enraged fight promoter. On the brink of death he is taken in by a young woman doctor and used as a
guinea pig for the next evolution of Texhnolyze. With his new limbs, Ichise is taken under the wing of
Oonishi, a powerful leader of Organ, an organization with some hold on Lux. As Ichise is drawn deeper
into a war for territorial control of the city, he learns of his possible future from the young girl
prophet Ran, who guides him from the shadows in his darkest times. With the explosion of the warfare,
Ichise must uncover the truth about Lux and fight for his survival as he realizes his destiny.
(Source: Anime News Network)
~~~img220(http://cdn.madman.com.au/images/series/series_texhnolyze.jpg)~~~ ##Preface To start, Texhnolyze is definitely not for everyone. It is a slow paced anime filled with a lot of violence and heavy symbolism. I’d classify Texhnolyze as a dark, abstract action-drama-psychological series. It’s quite depressing if you take the time to think about what happened after each episode, and you have to focus and think about every part if you want to enjoy the full experience Texhnolyze has to offer. The show questions the extent to what humans will do and take to progress the human psyche and how they react to it, given a city loosely characteristic of organized crime. ##Story & Characters Texhnolyze is divided into two arcs. Both involve a main antagonist trying to change the city of Luxuss that the story takes place in. While each arc is primarily driven by the respective antagonist’s goals and desires, the story of Texhnolyze as a whole does not seem to have any kind of overarching final destination. I would normally be okay with this, because a story does not have to follow a chronological timeline to be a story - it can focus on the many aspects of anything really, and with Texhnolyze, I had hoped it would have been a character study of Ichise and how the setting impacted him, but instead, Texhnolyze left me behind more with a sense of, “I watched something that achieved nothing.” Texhnolyze is markedly a psychological series, but not because of Ichise, which is why the story falls flat sometimes. Due to plot devices that occur within various times of the show, Ichise’s development is limited within the certain logical boundaries that the show has restricted itself to. Ichise aside though, many other characters are extremely interesting and definitely add to the quality of the show. Ran, joined by Doc and Haruhiko create prime examples for what Texhnolyze is able to achieve in regards to character depth and the psychological nature of the show (a feat in which Ichise was not able to accomplish). The rest of the supporting cast does a fine job with whatever roles they were assigned to and add to the positives of the show as a whole. The first antagonist is excellent as a character logically and creates some truly interesting scenarios within the first arc with great pacing. The second antagonist is average because the second arc introduces an abundance of new elements and does not provide ample time to fully explain all of them including leaving out enough time to explain the motives behind this antagonist. This left the second arc feeling rushed with an underdeveloped antagonist, which undermines the show a little since the show is driven by the goals of the antagonists, and not the protagonist. The main pitfall of the show ends up simply being a dialogue problem. In a possible attempt to make the show more abstract or place emphasis on the soundtrack, the show suffers from a lack of natural dialogue, and dialogue in general. Most characters just don’t say enough to make them realistic (with the exception of Haruhiko), and when they do, it seems very stilted. Thus it was hard to sympathize with any character while watching. ##Art & Animation To watchers of only airing seasonal anime and anything recent, Texhnolyze art may be a big turn off. The style is “choppier” and more realistic to fit the darker undertones of the setting, so I ended up thinking the art complimented the story quite well. Backgrounds are not detailed, but it doesn’t matter for much of the settings in Luxuss because a flashier background would have taken away from the ongoing events. Animation was standard. The lack of detail in less important scenes versus the amazing detail in close up shots and important scenes was clearly evident, but this goes for most shows more or less. For a show as violent as Texholyze, a bigger budget for the actual action scenes would have definitely added more for the impact of the violence. I’m normally hugely affected by violence, but since these scenes of blood and gore weren’t exactly clear or not executed well, I could sit through watching the many, many body parts fly around in each episode and people getting stabbed and ripped apart constantly. ##Soundtrack Since there’s a pretty evident lack of dialogue during the first arc of the show, you are forced to listen to the soundtrack. Nothing about the soundtrack was really memorable. It’s not bad, but nothing made me want to listen to it outside from the anime. The OP is my favorite part about the soundtrack. It sets you up to get energized before watching each episode, which is much needed as each episode seems to drag on and on without end. If the ED was slower and quieter, it would’ve suited the tone of the show much better, but it’s not terribly out of place. #Final Conclusion __Would I recommend Texhnolyze to people? No. __ I couldn’t really patch together what Texhnolyze was even trying to accomplish by the end of it, but I do seriously applaud it for making me think about it and making me want to write this first “complete review” of mine right after finishing it. If the goal was some kind of character or setting focus, they could’ve done a better job, but ‘twas a good effort. If it was anything else, then either they completely failed to convey this, or I’m totally missing out on something. Unless the person was a veteran anime watcher that liked to deeply analyze anime objectively and would have no qualms whatsoever regarding the age and art of this anime, I would NOT recommend this series. ~~~img220(http://s31.postimg.org/uzjh79saz/ba216cdf_f4e9_4cd4_ccd2_4df00cddbbd2.png)~~~ ##! The rest of this review contains my thoughts on certain aspects this anime did well on as well as did poorly on that require you to have watched the anime first so contains [SPOILERS]. Feel free to read at your own discretion to provide further thinking and discussion on Texhnolyze. ! __ - __Other Shortcomings -__ Ichise’s sudden personality flip from the first arc to the second arc was extremely unnatural. From the more reserved and quiet Ichise we are introduced to, he starts talking very frequently, which removes the tone of the show they had from the first arc. The second arc’s protagonist’s goals aren’t really evident until his last screen time (of the very few he even got), and it kind of ended up being more reflective on Luxuss and a whole versus adding anything to his character. A weak character in the end, but a necessary one I suppose. - __Other Highlights -__ The setting in itself is very, very interesting. In the first half of the series, I was left to ponder the hinted “above ground” setting, and was happily pleased with what they decided to make this setting. The stark contrasts between Luxuss and above ground are evident in the art - Luxuss is dark and menacing, while above ground is light and peaceful. There is setting irony though in the fact that while above ground is supposedly the “better” place, it is where people go to die. How it is portrayed is amazing. I could believe such an initially unbelievable setting because there were “people” there following routine until they died. The speakers that tell the thoughts of the lives of the people there as they finally die was an impressive touch. Ran’s character is very deep and introspective. We only receive bits and pieces of Ran in the first arc but we can tell that she is very important by the interactions of the first antagonist and her in that first arc. With her major involvements in the second arc, Ran becomes a vital character to the story. Think about the scenes in which Ran wears the mask and The ending is very reflective and thought provoking. Loved it. The lead in with the dramatic irony provided by Ran about Ichise’s fate of destroying the city and everyone came true, and we are left to wonder the cruelty of the world in the anime and if the struggles of the people in Luxuss were worth it in the end. No one wins, but what has Texhnolyze proven to us and shown about the evolution of the human psyche and what humans are truly possible of? Is there so much more potential to humans that the violence of war is required to achieve it? I’m sure I missed quite a number of other symbols, but the most evident one was the rose, at the end, when Ichise’s broken Texhnolyze projects the image of the rose that made some other cameos throughout the series. >Completed Texhnolyze on 4/22/16 :3 !
~~~__THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS__~~~ Texhnolyze is a cyberpunk series that showcases humanity, both at its best as well as at its worst, oftentimes seamlessly blending the two together in the same moment. Taking place in the dreary underground city of Lux, saturated with a suffocating and oppressive atmosphere, the viewer is soon introduced to several major characters over the course of the first few episodes. Among them are a stoic young man who survives as an entertainment fighter, the resolute leader of a mafia-like organization known as The Organo, a girl with increasingly accurate precognitive abilities that allow her to catch glimpses of the future, an iron-willed group that holds idealistic beliefs, a twisted doctor, a gang of rash hedonists, and, perhaps most importantly, a stranger not from the underground city, but rather from the surface above who begins a slow descent into this dark, dystopian society soon igniting a series of events that will determine the course of the future of humanity forever. Among those who worked on Texhnolyze were Chiaki J. Konaka, Yoshitoshi ABe, and Yasuyuki Ueda who had previously collaborated on the strange and bizarre Serial Experiments Lain. Chiaki J. Konaka has, over the course of his career, acquired a reputation for being involved in writing some of the most peculiar pieces of work within the medium, with Texhnolyze being among the series that demonstrates his talents strikingly well. ABe's art tends to favor a more realistic design than what is found in most other series and frequently has a gloomy sense of melancholy to it. Within Texhnolyze the creators manage to work a lot into the twenty-two episode run. So what is the point of this series; what value can be found in it? Well, in essence what the creators want to express is something from within, something beautifully human. Texhnolyze is frequently treated as series that is all about nihilism. This is not the case though, it is not about pure nihilism. Rather, to me, it seems to acknowledge and explore it, but ultimately it clearly and wholly rejects it. Texhnolyze is dark and remorseless in the pursuit of its message, but fundamentally inspiring and rife with an optimistic outlook. A series from Studio Madhouse made in the early 2000's, Texhnolyze begins with an episode that has (almost) no dialogue. Following after that episode are even more episodes that may, at times, feel very slow-paced. This is a deliberate attempt to demonstrate the nature of the slowly crumbling, monotonous lives led by the people within this series. In order to have the viewer to feel and understand this, it is structured such that it will feel like a brutal and suffocating trek across a wasteland. Now, being slow does not mean it is bad by any means; slow-pacing is not an inherently bad thing as some people may have you believe. As slow as Texhnolyze can be there is almost always something of import occurring during that time. Texhnolyze is a series that relishes in letting its audience draw conclusions for themselves, and oftentimes focuses more on showing, rather than telling. I suppose I should emphasize this since from my perspective it is one of the most interesting aspects of the show: it loves to show, and will rarely, if ever, tell the viewer what it is actually saying. The creators also wanted the viewers of Texhnolyze to feel and understand the pain the characters experienced in the series; they wanted it conveyed as clearly as possible—another reason for the slow pacing early on in the series—and so, when characters are injured or events transpire we are readily able to glimpse into their feelings via their facial expressions, their displayed behaviors, and the actions they take. Additionally, I suppose it may require mentioning that this series lacks "likable" characters, which is probably bound to turn some away. The "main" character will also not be the primary focus of the story in its entirety. It's more like everyone in the story is equally important. "Likable" and/or "relatable" characters are not a necessity for a series to be "good" anyway and so the value of the characters will not be evaluated upon such a belief. What matters is whether or not the characters within are handled well. This is the case with Texhnolyze; none of them are neglected, and each one serves a purpose within the story. There are no "good guys" or "bad guys," which is quite gratifying. Classifying a person as just "good" or just "bad" is a naive way of thinking; instead of doing so, characters within Texhnolyze are treated as though they were an actual human and behave as one might in such a society as the one seen here. The characters in Texhnolyze seem almost like a symbolic representation for a characteristic of humanity (at times). Even so they will still maintain their own identity. __From here, I will begin to discuss spoilers which will continue all the way until the end of this review. Read at your own risk.__ ~~~__BEWARE: MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD__~~~ Ichise is an individual that I can see as being a representation of the human will to survive. This is demonstrated by the way he can always be seen crawling around and struggling, but never giving up, as he tries desperately to cling to life. He loses an arm and a leg, yet continues to grapple and fight to survive. Once we consider him to be the human will to live, his days as an underground prize fighter take on a new meaning. He has always been placed in a situation where he must forcefully struggle just to scrape by in life. He is constantly wrestling with and making efforts to push onward, to the point that he seems like a wild animal—a stray dog as the series puts it—but at the same time much like a human. Ichise frequently makes grunting noises...a lot, but the grunting sounds he makes often do an impeccable job of separating him from other characters and demonstrating that he is an individual who wants to live and will fight to do so. He may have nothing in the world, but he still refuses to passively die, being a perfect representation of human perseverance. He is often shown being at the mercy of another, controlled by factors he cannot repel, whether as a prize fighter, as one of Doc's subjects, as a member of the Organo, as one who suffers his own fate; he seems to have very little control over his own life and seeks only his own survival. However, I would say that he does have control over his life and his fate. His desire to survive is his choice, thus it is by his own will that he survives. As the will to live should he not have had control over his survival he would not have allowed himself to be subjected to such control to begin with as it would not be in his nature to do so. It must be his choice and no one else's. I would not call him a tragic existence since he has truly lived, and this is expressed most convincingly when he smiles and then subsequently dies at the end. Ran can seen as a prophet, a guide, an oracle; in a metaphorical manner, Ran is a character that I can see as representing the future of humanity itself, in a sense at least. She has the ability to see the future because she is the manifestation of humanity's future. She wants to protect the future of humanity and prevent its extinction, a future she has prophesied will occur. It is shown that her visions are not necessarily always going to be correct and they can be changed, something that has to do with fate—fate as written by the individual. Fate can be loved, as fate is controlled by whomsoever it refers to, not the other way around. It is one's own life, and one's life, every aspect of it—the happiness, the pain and the suffering—all of it is their own, and it is by their own choices that their fate exists. "Fate" in Texhnolyze is not the result of something beyond one's control, but rather as something that is dictated by one's choices, and by extension one's choices cannot be dictated by fate. Why does Ran's prophecy about the extinction of humanity come true, or, why is Ran able to predict the future? It may be due to the concept of the eternal recurrence of the same (note that philosophical concepts are at times integrated into the series, but it is important to acknowledge that they do not define it) which is alluded to a few times in the series. Everything will play out the same way every time, no matter how times, and it cannot be fought. Ran may not be seeing the future, she may be seeing something that has already occurred many times before. When the future of humanity is effectively gone she asks Oonishi to destroy her (she is The Voice of the City and during the course of the series Oonishi can listen to her without losing his sanity) as she is the cause of the madness in Lux after having shown the residents her visions. The last remaining humans in the city have been consumed by insanity due to these visions. If she represents the future it would be a good reason as to why she wanted to protect and help Ichise who represents the will to survive. With no future (Ran) there can be no will to live (Ichise), and with no will to live there can be no future. The actions and lines spoken between these two throughout the series seemed to indicate such an idea to me at least. These two characters have a very sibling-like relationship within the series, and perhaps the best way to describe the relationship between "the human will to survive" and the "future of humanity" is sibling-like as well. In a way, they would both be like the "children of humanity." Within the series Ichise, or humanity's will to live, wants to know his future and the answer he ends up getting from Ran is one he rejects, saying he would not let it come to pass. Once Ichise returns to Lux after seeing the surface world of the Theonormals he said something along the lines of "What choice have I got? I have to protect you," to a vision of Ran that he spoke to upon his arrival back in the city (The quote was something like that, it may not be entirely accurate. I think it was in episode 21.). This would also seem like a good indication to me that the "will to survive" and the "future" need to protect each other if humanity is to truly survive. Ichise has come to that realization that he must protect Ran, the same way she has been protecting him throughout the series. The flowers that Ran is frequently shown carrying, selling, and dropping at points in the series are meant to represent the hope for the future. In episode five she drops them into the maze of a sewer that Ichise aimlessly wanders and uses them to guide him (the human will to survive) to her. After he manages to escape his unwilling predicament in this labyrinth he falls unconscious and she leaves a white flower by him. The idea of this flower becomes central to Ichise's character for the remainder of the series. Additionally, note the way this scene where Ichise wanders the sewers mirrors the final scenes of the series as well. As Ichise wanders the sewers his confusion and anger at his inability to find the exit is reflective of his internal state at the time. When Ichise returns to Lux at the end of the series whereupon he begins his trek to find Ran and confront Kano he is calm and understands who he is at this point. He understands that he was capable of change, though he also remained much the same person; even if, and when, a person changes, they are still the same person. Ran leads Ichise out of the sewer; Ichise talks with a vision of Ran as he goes to find her in the final scenes. After Ichise escapes the sewer it is Ran who strokes his head; in the end it is Ichise who carries Ran and returns her to the Raffia. Ran leaves the flower by Ichise's head; Ichise's texhnolyze arm projects a flower. Within the sewers Ichise lies against a wall seemingly resigning himself and giving up; at the end Ichise rests against a pillar and bleeds out as he accepts, with satisfaction this time, that he has lived and can die taking comfort in that fact. As the "will to live" it is significant that at the point in the sewers when he has resigned himself, it was almost immediately after that point that Ran, "the future of humanity," reignited his desire to survive by dropping the flowers into the sewer to lead him out. ~~~youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NszZ7JpqHc) youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohhx7KGNnmM) >If you wish to compare. I could not find a youtube video that contains the scene where Ichise talks to the vision of Ran.~~~ Additionally, Ichise lies against a wall/pillar many times (besides the two notable times I mentioned above) over the course of the series, and each time he does this something of importance about him is being conveyed in that instant. This recurrent visual cue is meant to stimulate within the viewer an association between Ichise and what he is going through at this point in time. When he lies near a wall, the series is asking the viewer to contemplate what is happening because it is often establishing something significant about him as a character. There was a time when I thought that the crude projection of the flower Ichise's texhnolyze arm shows in the last scene was something that the doctor, Eriko, was responsible for because one would assume she is the one who would be responsible for it due to her being the person who gave him the texhnolyze limbs in the first place and repairs them when they are damaged. She knew he liked the flowers. There is a scene where they were walking on the surface and she took notice of him looking at them (episode 19 or 20 I believe). Also, of note about this scene is that when Ichise looks at the flower on the surface it immediately wilts and dies. He then looks back the way they came, towards Lux, and stares in that direction for a few seconds. The wilting flower is a sign that "hope" is dying, that the future of humanity is soon to be no more. ~~~youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxHc4boKXhw) >Skip to 1:36~~~ Eriko witnessed this and while she certainly had come to care about Ichise over the course of the series I have since wondered if Eriko being entirely responsible for the projection within his texhnolyze arm is not actually be the case; actually, I think it is more of dual effort, at least in a way. Eriko put it there, but perhaps it is actually Ran who made the projection appear in the last scene (in this way the future and the will to live would die together then). She is the one who controls the texhnolyze limbs through the Obelisk. (Am I remembering this right? Sorry, it has been a while since I've finished the series and I can't recall.) This would also parallel the scene where Ichise wanders the sewers in episode five with the final scenes of the last episode rather well, too. As for the reason why Ran is able to project the flower out of his texhnolyze arm despite (or maybe in spite of) killing her mind as Kano claimed is that Ichise is her last connection to the world. By this way of thinking, the vision of her that walks alongside Ichise as he returns to Lux is not just something in Ichise's head—she is actually there, in a sense. Ichise does end up fulfilling the prophecy of Ran and dying "alone," but at the same time he wasn't truly alone because in a way Ran and the others who he met in his life are there with him, and they also die with him. The thoughts that he truly lived his life and is grateful for this and for those he met along the way lets him die satisfied. The flower projection is a reminder of what he found in living. He smiles, one of the only times he does so in the entire series, and slowly fades away. Keigo Oonishi represents the order of humanity. He works to ensure that the order of the society of the city will be upheld since he believes that is to better Lux. So, when the order dies—as the people of Lux have gone mad—Oonishi being the incarnation of that order soon dies as well by the very people he strove to help. In the series Oonishi serves as a mentor to Ichise and is almost like a father for him. Kazuho Yoshii is a bit like both the irrationality and rationality of humanity. The actions he takes seem extremely irrational to the other characters, but at the time he is trying to prevent Lux from becoming like the terrifyingly bleak surface world. He believes Lux is a "living" world unlike the dead one on the surface and does everything he can to prevent it from reaching a similar outcome as that one has. He believes in the "living" human. He denies wanting to know his future when Ran asks him if he would like to know it. He doesn't need to know his future because he already knows his life and its meaning. More clearly though, he is widely acknowledged by a majority of those I have talked about this series with to be the Ubermensch. So being the irrationality and rationality representation is somewhat related. Yoshii is a Man among Men—the Man of Men. Yoshii is the antithesis of the decadence of the surface world. Yoshii embraces his "fate" and loves his life, and when he dies, he does so with a smile. The doctor, Eriko can represent the advancement of the human species. She believes the texhnolyze limbs are what can help to achieve this. When she returns to the surface she discovers that they have given up on the texhnolyze limbs, she sees they are now "ghosts," apparently the perfection of the human species. She has lost her purpose, and without that purpose she cannot live soon dying thereafter. Within the series Eriko is like a second mother to Ichise as well. To hammer in the fact that the surface world denizens are like ghosts the series goes out of its way to literally have some of them possess the translucent appearance commonly thought to be characteristic of a ghost. Shinji, leader of the Racan, is the naivety of humanity. He dreams of being one of The Class. When he eventually discovers their true form he proceeds to kill them. He is killing his dream in a literal sense, and seeing as he is no longer that naive and trusting individual he is meant to represent, he can no longer exist, and is literally killed by his dreams blasting a whole through his chest. He is empty inside, both literally and metaphorically. Kano is a representation of solipsism, believing that he is the only thing that he is certain exists. Perhaps he can also even be insanity itself. Though his goals seem to be very sane—he wants to improve mankind, or so he claims—his methods to do so are, what many would agree, insane. He improves humanity by destroying the very things that make them human. Humans are human because they can die and because they maintain their soul. By disregarding this and turning them into the immortal Shapes he has failed to help mankind, ironically damning them instead. Tatsuya Sakimura is a character that I'm not too confident in my description of, but he is a fantasist. He is "dead" and resigned to his own end like the surface dwellers, but he is captivated by Yoshii; Yoshii's desires are enthralling to him. He dreams of the world Yoshii envisions. He too, much like Shinji, also kills his dreams (Yoshii) when he sees he has been mortally wounded (episode 10) and with it he returns to the already "dead" and seemingly nihilistic surface dweller. Motoharu Kimata is the hypocrisy of humanity. He is a leader of a group known as the Salvation Union that rejects the texhnolyze despite being a texhnolyze himself. Haruhiko Tooyama is the oversight of humanity. He becomes one of the Shapes and ends up thanking Ichise when he kills him having come to realize that he has made a mistake. By becoming one of the Shapes he has forsaken his humanity. At the point when Ichise kills Tooyama Ichise has decided to return to Lux in order to protect Ran. Ichise's oversight in this case was that he did not realize that he must protect Ran (the future) before and it has now been "killed" by his decision to return. Ichise's other oversight was wrongfully blaming his father for the death of his mother and that is "killed" as well when he meets the ghost of his father and apologizes to him. Kohakura is a representation of the treachery of humanity. He does betray the leader of the Organo, Oonishi, but this is not the his biggest act of treachery. His greatest act of disloyalty is to himself. He betrays his own humanity in his decision to become one of The Shapes. He is permanently rooted to the ground facing downwards for an eternity with the rest of The Shapes who betrayed their humanity as well by the end of the series. Lux is meant to represent the Ninth Circle of Hell at this point. These Shapes, who have altered themselves to an unrecognizable existence, "shaped" humanity's end. They have inherited the Earth, though it is ultimately meaningless now. The different factions within the series can also perhaps be representative of certain things. The Organo is a mafia-like organization that is representative of opportunism, the Salvation Union is fanaticism/idealism, the Racan is hedonism, those of Gabe are determinism, Kano's beliefs are, again, solipsism with maybe some Social Darwinism in there as well, the Theonormals (surface world citizens) are nihilism (Kind of. They are meant to represent the "Last Man"), and the Class represent a caste system. The name of the city, Lux, seems to be a rather deceitful title for the underground society—initially, at least. This name which means light is seemingly ironic. You may think it sounds strange calling the dark, dismal city of Lux the city of light and hope, however by the end of the series it is realized that it was. We are left with the understanding that the denizens of Lux were indeed the lucky ones when compared to the lives led by those on the surface. Having noticeably been able to maintain their human nature unlike those upon the surface, they never sank into an outright nihilistic (again, not quite nihilism, but it is close) or fruitless existence. They had their humanity, though life was tough, brutal, and cruel, they remained alive although appearing lifeless. They never devolved into the lifestyle of those on the surface who merely live as ghosts awaiting their inevitable end, unable to reproduce, too tired to even do anything, let alone die willingly which the series seems imply they would do if it was not for the effort. The Theonormals are the apparent perfection of humans; they do not suffer from disease, there is no war, there is no struggle, everything they could ever want has been obtained, but they are not "alive." They live a decadent life where their only desires are comfort and security, until death finally arrives. The art/artstyle of Texhnolyze is bleak, dull, somber, and gloomy. It is coupled with an emotionally evocative soundtrack that does an exceptional job of setting an appropriate tone for the series. Some of the tracks convey a deep sense of desolation, others a great degree of urgency, at other times a track produces a poignant melancholy, and still at other times it provides a gentle tune to exude an air of fragile grace. ~~~youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mvdxhVZD90)~~~ Oftentimes, rather than a soundtrack there are some ambient noises that are occurring instead—an effect that is often very prominent in the series directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki. There is a meticulous attention to detail in the series: from the outfits the characters wear saying something specific about them, to the backgrounds which are often hidden with a subtle meaning themselves—it manages to capture the tone the series is aiming for. Characters designs had little room for symbolic elements to be implemented due to a desire to make the characters look as realistic as possible, however, there are certain little things there. For example, Ichise's eyes are bright blue, brimming with life; Ran wears a kitsune mask. There is an interaction between light and dark all throughout the course of the series—another trait shared in Hamasaki's shows. There is recurrent usage of a train and train tracks meant to symbolize the progression of humanity (within Lux specifically) and, indeed, when we reach the end of those tracks we have also soon reached the end of the series and the end of Lux. Also, recurring in the series are spinning fans which, too, served a purpose. Often simultaneously setting a tone or being used for atmospheric purposes (also common in other Hamasaki series), I believe they also served another purpose. There is an idea of cycles in the series. Humanity has run its course from beginning to end, the characters have completed the cycle from life to death—everything eventually completes its cycle (and the cycle will repeat eternally, if you wanted to apply a literal interpretation of the eternal recurrence which is occasionally referenced). Another thing I would like to note is the titles of each episode. From Episode 1's title Stranger where Yoshii, the stranger to the city of Lux in this case, descends into that underground setting, to the tragic irony of Episode 19's Heavenward, to the realization of Episode 20's title Hades referring to the surface once considered by the characters within the series to be a utopian paradise, to the fact that humanity has indeed become a Myth by the end of Episode 22, each title was chosen with calculated and methodical contemplation by the writers. Texhnolyze managed to capitalize on all the potential it had in the greatest way possible making it a piece of work that I can wholeheartedly describe as a glorious triumph within the animated medium. Riveting and thematically rich, psychologically intriguing, and dramatic in remarkable ways, Texhnolyze was a very rewarding experience. Yes, Texhnolyze may seem like an absurdist series in ways, but I also believe that it can be seen as a series about seeking meaning in that meaningless world, with hope—meaning it eventually transitions into an existential series. While the series integrates the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche at times, it never frames any of what he believes as the "truth"; it's just using some ideas, not being defined by them. And it isn't even necessary to know what Nietzsche's all about to enjoy the series anyway. It's merely interesting to note when some of his ideas come up. Texhnolyze ends with the extinction of humanity—an empty age. The final scene is the slow fading away of the city, and finally the slow fading away of Ichise, the endling of the human species—the last living human. Perhaps this ending seems like a completely depressing, soul-crushing conclusion to some, but I disagree. When the ending is examined a little closer one will find perhaps the most inspiring and optimistic message within it in all of the animated medium. An ending that is nothing short of perfection. An ending that exemplifies what the series wants to express flawlessly. A necessary end. Despite the fact that all who live will inevitably someday meet their end there are still those who can find meaning in their lives—as humans. Note: - It has been quite a long while since I have actually watched this series so there may be a few inaccuracies within this review so my apologies if there are.
First review. Okay. Let's go. Constructive feedback is welcome. This review will be mostly a thematic analysis since I love pretty much every aspect of the series. I'll have a warning when I start getting into spoilers. ___ With the same character designer, producer and series composer, both Serial Experiments Lain and Texhnolyze weren't made to appeal to everyone. They are both very experimental series that rely a lot on the "show don't tell" kind of narrative, so you need to be quite open-minded in order to enjoy these works. There are no tropes for you to rely on, nor engaging fight scenes backed up with epic soundtracks. You are simply introduced to this dark, unforgiving world, and taken on a journey as you learn more about its workings and inhabitants. Yoshitoshi ABe's characters designs fit the serious and dark tone of the series, and Hiroshi Hamasaki's characteristic use of lighting is masterful, sometimes fleshing out the feeling of desolation of the setting, other times giving a special focus to the facial expressions. ~~~img300(https://i.imgur.com/WXfleHX.png) img300(https://i.imgur.com/Cl1x0eT.gif)~~~ Texhnolyze differs from SEL in that it's a double cour series, which allows it to focus on a bigger cast of characters, and we are able to see the perspective of various inhabitants of its world, while in SEL the focus is almost all in Lain herself. I feel like the best aspect Texhnolyze brings to the table is its world-building and how every part of it adds substance to the series' themes, instead of just being there for no reason, which is a big breath of fresh air. The setting is really well put together and everything feels realistic. As expected from Chiaki Konaka, the writing is brilliant. ~~~WARNING: from here on out, heavy spoilers ahead~~~ This series is about a lot of things, but if I had to say what its overarching theme is, it would be the evolution of mankind. What does it take to be the perfect human being? The series doesn't reply to this directly, but if we analyze its fascinating world, we might be able to come to certain conclusions on the matter. The city of Lux was originated through mankind's will to separate the violent, "inferior" people from what they thought to be the superior race (though by the end of the series it's speculated that the people of Lux were humanity's hope). Lux is the underground home to those who couldn't hide their instincts, while the people of the Surface were to live a life isolated from dangerous factors. The Surface represents complete order, routine, piece at last, while Lux was to be home to the chaotic nature, raw human instinct. This duality can be observed not only in their inhabitants' behavior but also in how the architecture differs drastically between these two locations: Lux's buildings are practical and unadorned, contrasting with the Surface's landscape, which is inspired by Edward Hopper’s paintings, known for their portrayal of desolation in late 19th century American cities and rural landscapes. ~~~img300(https://i.imgur.com/huT2OF2.jpg) img300(https://i.imgur.com/xpPKoy0.jpg)~~~ With this duality in mind, we should now tackle this question: what would happen to these two opposite realities in the long run? Regarding the Surface, the answer seems to be spiritual stagnation. Because just like an individual needs both discipline and raw spirit to be complete, a population can't evolve without both chaos and order. Order without raw spirit becomes weak. If there is no competitivity, there is no challenge to one's existence, and that can only lead to the metaphysical collapse of the population. I believe this spiritual stagnation of the Surface to be a warning of how our society may move in the direction of Nietzsche's "Last man", an apathetic population that loses the ability to dream, to strive, and becomes unwilling to take risks, instead seeking comfort. ~~~img300(https://i.imgur.com/0OY9g8b.png) img300(https://i.imgur.com/4Fi5NJd.jpg) ~~~ Then what about Lux? When Yoshii arrives at the city, it seems to be more alive than the Surface, but in a closer analysis, we are able to see that this population is also moving towards passive nihilism. The chaotic nature of the original inhabitants was being lost over the generations. Yoshii sees potential in Lux and takes drastic measures in order to "wake up" the city and prevent it from dying like his hometown. Now that I've analyzed the duality between the Surface and Lux, I'd like to take a closer look at this underground city, where most of the series takes place. The city is divided into factions, and each of them represents a different way of living. The Class is a closed group of individuals that resorts to inbreeding in order to reproduce and controls the city - it represents absolute power and the people have no word on who should represent them. The people of Gabe worship the seer, a girl that has the power to see one of many possible futures. They live relying on the outcome rather than living by their values. The Organo is a very influential group, and those who join it are submitted to rules and hierarchy, while the Rakan seems to represent the opposite: you are free to do as you want. Lastly, the Salvation Union's existence is based on a collective of individuals that seem to blindly believe in a shared ideal. They are against texhnolyzation (I'll delve into that topic later on the review). The interactions and clashing between these factions are what brings Lux to life (lux meaning "light", humanity's last hope) and Yoshii is well aware of that. ~~~img400(https://i.imgur.com/GZGckT1.jpg)~~~ Another fundamental theme the series portrays is that of fate and the different ways to deal with it. This topic can only be discussed because of the existence of Ran, the girl that can see one of many possible futures. I'll now proceed to delve into two of my favorite characters and how they deal with "amor fati" (love for one's life/fate). I love Yoshii because he doesn't belong to any group, he is sure of his own values and lives by them, without letting fate interfere with his decisions. He rejects the Surface's passive nihilism and comes to Lux in order to change its structure, and by the end, he dies with a smile on his face, showing just how satisfied he was with his life. He is truly a übermensch, Nietzsche would be proud. ~~~img300(https://i.imgur.com/QO2rhSB.png)~~~ My favorite character, however, is Ichise. I'm a sucker for character development, and his journey is quite a fascinating one. At the beginning, Ichise clearly represents the raw spirit characteristic of the first inhabitants of Lux, he symbolizes the pure will to survive, and that's a major factor to evolution, something the people of the Surface lacked. On the first few episodes we are able to observe, however, that his set of values is weak: he drags his dead limbs with him and even washes them in order to preserve them, he carries dead cells of his mother out of sentimental attachment, he refuses a meal only because he doesn't want to be pitied by others, and at first he doesn't accept the texhnolyzed limbs as his own. Ichise's journey is mostly about putting his values to the test and finding a deeper meaning to his life, as he adapts to his new limbs and accepts them as his own. To question our values and forever be open to spiritual transformation is very important in order to live a more meaningful life. By the end of the series, Ichise is like the symbol of the affirmation of human life. We can see he is spiritually alive as the series contrasts his existence with that of the people of the Surface, he has evolved as an individual and cares for others, he rejects nihilism as he kills Kano, and just like Yoshii, he shows love for his life and fate, as even though things ended up like Ran had predicted, he still showed satisfaction. Lastly, I feel like I should delve into the reason behind the title of the series. What is texhnolyzation and why is it so important? Texhnolyzation is the process of replacing organic limbs with highly advanced prosthetics. We know that one of the purposes Lux served to the Surface was to mine raffia and test texhnolyzation, as it was seen as a key factor to the evolution of men. And it's with this that I thought it would be the best timing to introduce yet another one of my favorite characters of the series, Eriko Kaneda (aka Doc). I love Doc's character because even though she is a very rational scientist, she values what makes us human. She believes that mankind can evolve through texhnolyzation, but at the same time respects the human factor, as opposed to Kano, who thinks evolution is only possible by discarding our bodies, our humanity. ~~~img300(https://i.imgur.com/P79HG8C.jpg)~~~ However, by the end of the series, Doc is confronted by the Theonormal's lack of will to take risks and evolve. With this, her developments on texhnolyzation were deemed useless, detaching our scientist from her purpose and reason to live. Despite dying without love for her fate, Doc leaves us her legacy and masterpiece: Ichise, the proof that men can evolve and live meaningfully without discarding their humanity. All in all, texhnolyze has probably the most fascinating setting I've come across in any work, and that's why I decided to give so much attention to the analysis of its world and themes. It brings together some of my favorite staff and the result is a timeless masterpiece (Despera when??). It's a series that inspires me to this day so I had to make this. Thanks for reading my very first review. Any kind of constructive feedback is welcome, and if you think I should make more reviews please let me know. I leave you with the series' banger opening. ~~~youtube(https://youtu.be/K0VYSthqzHE)~~~
Tout d'abord la critique ne porte aucune analyse je vais simplement vous faire part de mon ressentis
sur l'anime qui est vraiment excellent sur beaucoup de point.
~~~___Un monde dystopique ravagé par la lutte de pouvoir___~~~
J'ai vu peu d’animé portant comme sujet principal une dystopie mais celui de __Texhnolyze__ est
vraiment ouf. L'histoire n'est pas fais pour tout le monde : Il traite de sujet assez tabou de mon
point de vue et n'hésite pas a insister dessus avec des scènes très explicite. Cependant l'anime
arrive a avoir un point de départ et d'arrivé tout en restant logique et en développant parfaitement
son histoire, même si il reste des petites questions pour ma part. Le monde de __Texhnolyze __est
gangréné par la lutte de pouvoir dans la ville de _Lux_.. En effet, le peuple ici présent, a été
bannis et se retrouve exclu de leur semblable a cause de leur différence, les poussant a évoluer seul
dans un climat de violence et d'insécurité. L'arriver de la technologie va fonctionner dans un premier
temps , mais a force de vouloirs creuser toujours plus on touche le fond. En plus de cela, le monde
''normal'' a lui aussi totalement changé : Tout les humains restant qui n'accepte pas la technologie
sont mort de l'intérieur. ils veulent finir leur jours sans problème et partir paisiblement. ces
personnes ont abattu énormément de personne pour leur différence, mais ce sont elles qui sont le plus
vide alors que les habitants de Lux se battent ( ou non) pour continuer leur vie.
Les protagonistes sont a premier abords vide et sans vrai émotion, mais c'est surtout a la fin de
l’œuvre que tout deviens très noir et violent. La violence est omniprésent dans l'anime mais la fin
rend la chose encore plus irréaliste. Un bain de sang sans nom a cause de cet fameuse technologie et
l'utilisation de __Ran__, la protagoniste,qui peut prédire l'avenir. Les hommes ont abandonné leur âme
pour la technologie et ont sombré dans la folie totale ou __Ichise__ , notre protagoniste principale,
voulait simplement retrouvé son amie dans se chaos, pour lui montrer que le monde d'en haut est certes
pourris, mais beaucoup moins que la ville de Lux.
La scène final de l'anime ou __Ichise__ découvre avec horreur que Kano, le ''grand méchant'', a tué
__Ran __car elle ne voulait plus voir le futur.Il justifie son action en disant que son esprit a été
brisé et par la même occasion tente de manipuler __Ichise__.
. __Ichise __ fou de rage, le tue et on assiste a une des scènes le plus triste que j'ai vu de ma vie
: Accablé par le sorts de son ami qui l'a changé tout au long de l’œuvre, il prends dans ses bras
__Ran __pour la jeté dans un tréfonds avant de s'écrouler seul. Cependant, __Ichise __sourit pour la
première fois de l'anime devant un petit hologramme dansant qui sort de son bras Texhnolyzé,
accompagné de _l'ost "Walking Through the Empty Age"_ de __Yoko
Ishida__ en guise de deuxième ending et : youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKNv8QKLJeE)
Je peux vous assurer que j'ai rarement été aussi triste et secoué devant une fin d'animé
L'opening est tout aussi bon et donne encore plus un charme a l'univers, ou même les ost ont quelle
que chose de mystique pour moi dans l’œuvre.
Vous l'aurez compris, l'anime soutien fortement les idées du nihilisme tout au long de l’œuvre avec
certes une petit lueur désespoir mais qui vient être balayé a la fin de l'anime. Malgré tout, __Ichise
__est heureux a la fin, il a eu une vie plus que désastreuse mais le voir sourire pour la première
fois dans l'anime ma fais chaud au cœur.
Texhnolyze est un anime assez unique qui mérite le détour mais jusqu’au bout. Il est cependant pas
pour tout le monde car la narration est particulière a mon gout, mais tellement bonne que je le
conseillerais fortement au mordu d’animé qui veulent expérimenter une œuvre singulière.
In my **opinion**, Texhnolyze is beautiful. It is a story of millions of words, told through so little dialogue. My appreciation for Texhnolyze lies in its execution, in its concepts, and in its intentions. *However*, Texhnolyze is not for everyone. The animation is off at times, the mood is overwhelmingly dark, and the pacing is profoundly slow. I personally was fond of these aspects of the anime, but I’m certain others will not be. It is intentionally obtuse, so it is perfectly reasonable to come away from it with a sour taste. Despite all this, I still encourage you to watch it, and to form your own opinion on it. Additionally, this review does not come close to covering all of the intricacies involved in Texhnolyze, it simply aims to discuss what I perceive to be the central tension and message of the show. There is so much more to this anime that is covered better in other reviews, and I see no point in rehashing that. The rest of this review assumes that you have already watched Texhnolyze in its entirety. **Spoilers ahead.** (There are also spoilers for the 2016 film *Mother!*, which I recommend if you enjoyed Texhnolyze) We should begin at the heart of the show. Texhnolyze is about humanity. It attempts to present ideas and opinions on mankind’s journey through time using the medium of animation, in a style I find very reminiscent of the film *Mother!*. Like mother, Texhnolyze follows the life, and more prominently the death, of humanity through heavy usage of metaphor and symbolism. Every character, every setting, and every motif represents some aspect of humanity. The precise meanings behind each and every character and concept within the series is beyond the scope of this review, and also already covered by other reviews. Rather, I intend to focus in on the broader message of Texhnolyze. It puts forth that, at its purest, humanity is unadulterated, unreasonable rage. Rage against one’s enemy, rage against cosmic injustice, rage against nothing at all except the unrelenting entropy of the universe. Thus enters *the* human: Ichise. Ichise is rage. He is hate, he is violence, he is stubbornness and perseverance. His entire life is defined by oppression and exploitation. Nothing is fair for him. He literally fights for his life each day, earning his living as an underground boxer, as shown to the audience through a brief montage at the beginning of episode 1. But he never gives up. The show claims that, like mankind, Ichise will fight on to survive, even if he has nothing to live for. Within the first few seconds of the show, Ichise's character is immediately established. His modus operandi (the manner in which he interacts with the world) is violence. He is entirely unaware of how to function in society through any method other than violence. His inciting incident occurs when his boss, who is tied to the mafia-esque Organo, rapes him. He initially submits, but as he grows fed up with the situation, sees no out except violence. So he hits her, hard enough to knock her across the room. In return, he receives violence, as the Organo arrives later that night to literally take an arm and a leg. We are soon introduced to our second vessel of humanity, the head of the Organo, Onishi. Onishi is entirely the opposite of Ichise. He represents security, the desire to maintain order and structure in society. Compounding this, despite clearly being *very* capable of it, he abhors violence. He rarely draws his blade, often citing that “the city does not wish for a spectacle.” This subservience to an abstract, as yet unobserved entity, combined with his penchant for hierarchy and clear planning, immediately portray his place in the narrative. He is an alternative, functional state of being for humanity. He is much more relevant and relatable to our current day humanity, as our world is one of **order**. Order, and its counterpart: chaos, are important concepts in this show. They represent the central tension of Texhnolyze. A society of order is one where people follow laws, even if nobody is watching. A society of chaos is not necessarily a land with no laws, but rather one where the laws are not absolute. Chaotic beings do not follow laws, simply for the sake of following them. As such, in a chaotic society, the strong hold power. They can be strong mentally, physically, or in any other manner. The important thing to understand is that without order, the strong are able to enforce their will upon those who are weaker, because chaotic society doesn’t respect the procedures of rulership simply for the sake of it. Lukuss, the central locale of Texhnolyze, begins in a state of moderate order, somewhat comparable to our real world. As Onishi says, “the city does not wish for a spectacle.” The city could be considered to be in a state of homeostasis. It’s needs are being met, without needing to unnecessarily excite itself. People follow rules, both cultural and legal. Enter Yoshii. Chaos. Yoshii is almost like a force of nature. He arrives in Lukuss, causing havoc seemingly only for the sake of it. Because he wants to see humans “truly free” and “truly living”, as he puts it. To understand why Yoshii acts the way he does, we need to understand where he is coming from: the surface. The surface represents a perfectly ordered society. It is so well oiled and regulated that it is simply decaying into nothingness. The society is so choked and restrained that the people are too apathetic to even notice their slow, degeneration into “ghosts.” At one point later in the show, Sakimura brings up his murder of Yoshii to a co-worker, who literally cannot comprehend the sentence. He simply stares at Sakimura, before walking off. This is a hyperbolic representation of a society so strangled by politeness, that the very concept of senseless violence is literally incomprehensible. And they die with just as much politeness, only passively acknowledging that “their time is up.” Many of the people on the surface have adapted to this society. But some do not fit in, namely Yoshii. Driven mad by their monotonous, mundane march into non-existence, Yoshii attempts to rekindle what he sees to be as the fire in humanity: Chaos. He moves to Lukuss in the hopes of beginning a new society, as diametrically opposed to his homeland as possible. It is an act of escapism for him. Now let us return to Ichise. We now have better terms to define him as a character. He is not just violence, but he is chaos. He is strong, and this strength allows him to enforce his will upon others. He is the true manifestation of chaos, and his arc throughout the story is meant to parallel (the show’s perception of) the real life progression of humanity. He, much like our ancestors, begins in a state of chaos. The world around him may be ordered, but his ecosystem depends on violence and strength. Eventually, violence cannot carry him any further, however, as his leg and arm are taken from him by the Organo. He rages against the injustice, attempting to maintain his chaotic ways, but is halted at every turn. So, realizing violence can take him no further, he attempts to integrate into what little order exists in Lukuss. He joins the Organo, run by the literal manifestation of Order, Onishi, and so begins an era of stability for him. The characters reference this progression in their nicknames for him. Initially he is a stray dog, as without his limbs, he cannot use violence, leaving him purposeless: a stray. Then he joins the Organo, and a co-worker warns that he will now be collared. Throughout this period, we occasionally see flashes of Ichise’s true self. When he is put to the limit, he resorts to profound and extreme violence. This comments on similar perceived qualities in greater human society. The show puts forth the claim that humans may act in niceties towards one another, maintaining a polite global order, but deep down we are still the same animals we once were. One could point to the atrocities of war or genocide as indicators of our deep-seated desire for violent, carnal chaos. Whether or not this is an accurate depiction of humanity is largely irrelevant however, as I am purely interested in how the show conveys its ideas, not the validity of said ideas. This state of order comes to an end when Kano comes down from the hill. Kano is the next evolution of Yoshii. He too has seen the horror of the surface world, and seeks to create a society that escapes its fate. However, Kano chooses a different method to reach this shared goal. Yoshii represented chaos, and as such died because another (Ichise) was stronger than him. With his death, order begins to return to Lukuss, slowly but surely, represented by Onishi making his way back to the top of the Organo. Kano takes the opposite route of Yoshii. He enforces even greater order upon Lukuss by forcing its people to both conform, both physically and mentally, to his own whims. He turns people into “shapes,” a name specifically chosen to dehumanize them. Unknowingly, he creates a climate almost identical to the ghostly realm of the overworld. He would claim that his “shapes” can live forever, while the people above are simply waiting to die, but ultimately their existences are the same. Instead of persisting as ageless ghosts, Kano’s shapes will exist silently forever as little more than conscious trees. Both of these societies represent ultimate order, a state that essentially marks the end of humanity as we understand it. So far, Texhnolyze’s timeline for humanity is as follows: We begin in a state of pure chaos. Eventually, chaos can’t take us any further, so we form society, creating some low form of order. Order persists for a long time, with only the occasional reminders of mankind’s rabid nature. This state may be disrupted by occasional chaotic forces (e.g. world wars), but ultimately recovers. Texhnolyze then predicts that our ordered state reinforces itself until we are so far removed from our original, primal selves, that we no longer bear any semblance of what it is to be human. Some specific point will mark our “evolution” from humanity, or in other words, the death of humanity as we know it, as a result of forming a society of ultimate order. Kano fully realizes his ambitions while Ichise is above ground. Eventually, like Yoshii, horrified by the surface world, Ichise returns to Lukuss to rekindle the spark of humanity. But he is too late. Everyone has either gone mad, or turned to shapes. So, cornered, Ichise returns to his natural state: violence. He kills his way through an entire crowd of people before eventually finding Kano. Kano attempts to explain the superiority of his design and his solipsist ideology, imparting a line that truly encapsulates the show’s message: “To kill me, who is saner than anyone is to acknowledge your own insanity and embrace it until you die.” Ichise does exactly that, and is finally allowed to die at peace. Peace afforded to him because he has finally acknowledged his true self. He no longer hides, nor resents, his chaotic nature. Instead, he has embraced it in this one act of murder. In other words, Texhnolyze claims that humanity can only find peace when it has, like Ichise, embraced its chaotic nature rather than removed itself from it. At the end of the day, it is a precautionary tale. It warns that man’s desire for progress and stability will lead it astray, and ultimately to its own demise. In humanity’s death, we see the final parallel between mother and Texhnolyze: the cycle. It is hinted at throughout the entire show that the events we see have happened before. That there is always an Ichise, an Onishi, a Yoshii, and a Kano. We finally see visual proof of previous iterations of this cycle in the film presented to Ichise and Doc on the surface. It depicts war (chaos), followed by bureaucrats much like the Organo creating order, which they only obtain by forcing the people of Lukuss underground. The people of Lukuss are explained to have harbored monsters within them, which we as the audience can recognize as referring to their chaotic nature. This is the very chaotic nature that Texhnolyze puts forward as being true humanity. After the events depicted in the film, we know that the surface enters an era of absolute order, and begins to die. They have purged their land of true human nature, and this is what causes their decay. This mirrors Kano forcing out the humanity in Lukuss, by turning the people into shapes, only to achieve his society of perfect order. Kano even suggests that there will be a new age following the end of the series, claiming he need only endure the passage of time until some untold salvation arrives. The visions of the seer may not even be of the future, but rather simply echoes of previous loops. She even states herself that “nothing changes”. This phrase is another motif of the show, also spoken by Ichise with regards to his violent nature. It falls perfectly in line with the concept of repetition. The seer is forced to watch as humanity is born, lives, and dies, falling to the same mistakes over and over again while she can do nothing to help. This is the true story of Texhnolyze. A story of humanity being goaded into forsaking its true self, and embracing death in the process. It is these mistakes that Texhnolyze seeks to warn the audience of. ~~~END OF SPOILERS~~~ TLDR: Texhnolyze presents a proposed cycle of humanity’s existence, depicting its birth, life, and death, as well as exploring how we structure our society. This is just my interpretation though. Don’t take my word for it, if you haven’t seen the show, go watch it. There is so much more to it than what I have written about here, and I think more people need beautiful art in their lives. (also the soundtrack slaps)
Texhnolyze while not having a proactive fanbase has garnered a cult following, within the more niche side of the anime community. And there's no reason as to why it shouldn't. Texhnolyze is a grim dystopian anime, exploring the ideas and questions it poses in a very refined and relentless way. As in this anime doesn't give a single flying fuck about how the viewer feels watching the show nor is it concerned with making its narrative accessible or with providing the viewer some fanservice or comic relief that is found in most stories in general. It's this very raw and deliberately stagnating approach to its storytelling, that makes this show a difficult to follow anime, often having moments which are hard to follow. However this works in the favor of the show, as its tendency to not break from its shell is what allowed it to be so great and unmatched in the first place. ________________________________________ PLOT The early episodes of this anime are the epitome of the show not tell formula; entirely relying on visual storytelling conveyed through character actions and location. The first episode is the prime example, as it barely has any dialogue and is carried mostly by its atmosphere. Its roughly 1/3rd way through the anime where the whole deal starts to make sense and the general gist behind everything is made clear. This anime also has a mysterious feel to it, the story is told as in- it gives off a feeling, that it's slowly but surely culminating to something. Most episodes can divided by arcs/plotlines which don't align with each other right away, until the end where everything comes together to in a very satisfying and filling thematic closure. The Plot is slow placed and relies on the viewer being able to understand subtle character motivations and subtext, thus it can come off as being directionless or just boring. But as it goes on, it becomes clear that the show is definitely going in a solid direction and its going to hit all the right notes. As it does- with its final four episodes. TLDR; The plot moves at a leisurely pace, exploring its themes and the world it is set in while slowly building up to a satisfying plot and thematic conclusion. ________________________________________ CHARACTERS It's difficult to talk about the cast of texhnolyze without entering the realm of spoiler territory. To make it concise and on to the point, the characters are extremely complex and feel like real human beings, with real motivations and reasons. The whole cast is very human and realistic; at times in a really twisted way. Character development is subtle and is not all too apparent at first, but all of the character arcs conclude in the most realistic way possible. Not to say, the characters in this world behave in a totally believable and plausible way, given the rather unique and unimaginably extreme circumstances they are put into. To think that the writers were able to communicate so much through character writing alone shows how much care was put into understanding human psyche, when put under certain circumstances and how differently people react to these situations. That being said though, Upon deeper reflection after finishing the show, Ichise comes off as being the silent star of the show, while Yoshi and Onishi shine a lot more, on the actual viewing experience and are understood way better after the show is finished. ________________________________________ THEMES I'm not the guy, when it comes to deep analysis of the shows, I'm the person who tries to understand something, than interpret it and write eloquent writeups; regardless I like to get my mind challenged and I really cherish it, when the writer's vision and ideas are explored in depth and come of as being compelling. That's something Texhnolyze manages to pull off. The premise is that, Humans can't naturally evolve anymore and most of them live in a degraded wasteland devoid of life and full of violence. Its a true existential nightmare. Too make it worse, to evolve they have to trade their humanity and possibly become something different altogether. Also the world around them is just blankly existing and it seems everybody is lacking in any sort of purpose or genuine will to live. Thus its the most nihilistic a nihilistic bleak fantasy could get. That being said, the show through my understanding is about finding hope in a world devoid of meaning, purpose, will and well hope. Examining humanity's relation to technology and progress. And the central theme/idea from my understanding is about exploring how humanity would act/live in the most extreme of the extreme conditions? would we perhaps better as a species, get worse or entirely devolve into mere carnal beasts, relying on our wild base instincts. The show also explores the idea of dystopian and utopian societies, conflict and peace's relation with humanity and to take a leap evolution. The idea of progressing and evolving at a cost, exploring of how truly difficult decisions in the face of imminent adversity are made. And the philosophical concept of (may come of as "thematic" spoiler)~! "Fatalism"!~ and how humanity deals with it. The show covers a lot of ground in its 22 episode runtime. And from a purely thematic and cinematic standpoint accomplishes a lot and explores a lot of ideas, without feeling pretentious. ________________________________________ ENJOYMENT I'll make it clear by saying that this show is not made for everyone. Some may not be able to stomach how dark and depressing it is. Some may just find it boring and even uninspiring at times. Still as far as experimental anime goes, this show is very watchable, as long as the viewer is relatively open minded or eased up to unconventional narrative elements. There is a very conceivable plot in this show, which starts to become apparent, at around the 8th episode, there are interesting characters which progress and carry the story. The mystery of where the show will lead to is always looming. There are plenty of brutal, undramatized yet oddly entertaining action scenes and plot points. And the incoming twists are unexpected, brutal yet just make it all much better. In a way as far as avant garde storytelling goes, the show is very accessible and even entertaining at times, not like SEL (which is great, but very much a total clusterfuck at times) and when you finish it, theres an odd sense of satisfaction, even if the whole experience was quite depressing. Overall a great package ________________________________________ Soundtrack and Art The Opening song is vague but very much suits the tone and feel of the anime. The Ending song is an hauntingly peaceful piece, which is just the right choice. Since the anime's presentation is very real and often devoid of any dramatization- there's similarly not a whole lot of soundtrack, but whatever there is, is high quality. The Art and environment design is excellent. Lux is as lifeless of a city as it can get, yet it has an character/personality of its own, all brought to the screen (or as I may say LIFE xd) by madhouse. I really like the washed out, grey and brown pallete/ color scheme. The character designs are recognizable yet realistic (abe sensei doing good work) and the animation is high quality. ________________________________________ FINAL VERDICT This anime is in its own league. There's nothing comparing to it, nor anything as ambitious. Its not for everybody. I say it again. But if y'all want your mind challenged, or perhaps consider yourself a connoisseur of everything mindfuck, arthouse, surreal etc. Then go for this show. There's little to no criticism on my side. Thus MY FINAL SCORE 92/100 _____
~~~texhnolyze is a sci-fi dystopia series that's almost 20 years old now, and one that i actually never really heard of in any capacity until i browsed this site for pretty much something exactly like it at least in terms of genre. it definitely gets off to a,,,memorable start if nothing else, and presents a world and story that are minimally exposited but significantly more engaging than most anime can manage. it's not without its downsides though as the implications of some of its ideas and its more heavy handed approach to delivering information as it enters its final phase did negatively affect my overall enjoyment of it. this is as usual going to be a largely spoiler free review aside for the basic premise and setup and some vague references, but because of the kind of show this is it's gonna be a bit of a hefty one so if you don't feel like reading much and __you want a tl;dr__ then you can find that right at the bottom of the review after the last rainbow breaker. i should say the story felt pretty neatly split between two broader arcs but i'll be talking about the whole thing in general terms instead of breaking it down and assessing the two parts separately because it's one season anyway and i'm a lazy fucker img(https://files.catbox.moe/afsqmm.gif) #__theme stuff btw__ anime in general has a tendency of spoon feeding the audience with backstory, plot, and character motivations to gain some level of audience engagement especially in the opening portion of the story, but texhnolyze can be accused of no such thing. the first episode contains basically no dialogue for at least half its duration and the show cuts from one moment to the next with an impressive fluidity that both compels you to pay active attention to almost every frame and prevents you from getting a full picture of anything going on without at least some thought. that's what got me hooked when i started watching this and what made almost every episode feel like it took no time at all. there just wasn't enough time to absorb and consider everything going on in the city of lux or with the large cast of characters or what any of it meant in terms of thematic context, and that was a huge strength that this story had - its ability to really make you think about what you were seeing by actually withholding information a lot of the time. if you did stay engaged in any capacity then you probably noticed that texhnolyze is not by any means a bright and cheery story. the city of lux, that much of the show is set in, is every bit as bleak and dark as the lives of its inhabitants who find themselves caught up in the violent and exploitative rule of and conflict between three rival gangs which are themselves at the lowest tier of what we see of this dystopian human society. one of the conflicts at the core of the story is what to do when faced with such a seemingly hopeless existence, whether to resign yourself to the cruel machinations of fate or to confront it and embrace yourself and the possibility that all your efforts may be futile. ultimately, because of how the story is largely framed in relation to that conflict it ends up taking a more optimistic tone than it may seem to have at surface glance, and that's apparent in the design of the city itself and in the process of texhnolyzation (basically cybernetic enhancement) for which the show is named. i can't get into as much detail as i'd necessarily like to when discussing the significance of the city's appearance because of spoiler reasons with what it most heavily contrasts, but even so this is a part of how the ideals of the story get presented that's as important as it is easy to overlook because of how light the show's touch is when it comes to delivering this kind of information explicitly. the message around confronting your fate and life itself head on, for better or worse, is captured in the stark imagery of the city's buildings - works of exposed concrete and protruding iron bars that are equal parts menacing and austere. yet look closer, beneath the long shadow cast by the obelisk at the city's centre, and you'll see a place that is very much filled with human life and activity. there are of course some people within that environment who do try to shy away from the nature of what it has turned them into - like the texhnolyzed arm of the woman in the first episode which was clearly a failed attempt to approximate the ordinary appearance and form of an arm. but there's others like the doctor who espouse very early on the idea that our faults and experiences are not to be hidden away but accepted as part of our individual and collective growth. additionally, claiming the show is So Deep because it doesn't have good guys or bad guys is disingenuous. at the very least there are definitely bad people depicted in this show, mass murderers and rapists who do not at all have their actions glorified because the story chooses to focus not on their actions but on the aftermath of it and the pain and loss they've inflicted. you can have a "morally grey" story overall while still having some characters and actions that are framed in broadly positive or negative terms, it doesn't detract from the tone or quality of this show at all that it does choose to adopt such framing at points. simply not hiding anything doesn't mean only the bad or dubious will end up exposed, like ran's flowers leading ichise to safety or the new life that emerges through the raffia. the antagonists across both halves of this story very much represent perversions of these ideals though, one conflating an embrace of human nature with a state of chaos and the other viewing texhnolyzation as a way to ultimately reject and escape from our humanity. there's also of course some egoism you could read into not just the actions of the antagonists but several members of the main cast, whether they embraced or rejected the totality of their own being they ultimately acted in a way consistent with what they perceived as their own self-interest, and some characters even urged others to take action in line with that. the thing about self-interest though is it's impossible to quantify and triangulate exactly what courses of action will yield the most direct benefit to you, so at a base level the drive to simply survive may be the most reasonable path to pursue within that guiding framework. that drive to survive is precisely what ichise, the protagonist, embodies for much of the story, but this is where we get to what may be some more unpalatable implications of what the story has to say about nature as it pertains to the women characters. if everyone is simply acting in line with who they are at their core, or if that is at least what they strive towards when choosing their path, then the actions of the women throughout this show just reinforce gender stereotypes and tropes within anime that can be more than a little frustrating. we have a character whose actions stem from some kind of terribly twisted sense of maternal devotion, a couple of characters who don't really seem to have any kind of existence beyond their relationships with and attachment to the men around them, and that pattern in particular repeating itself with all the women in this story with a decent amount of screentime. they are ancillary to and help cap off the arcs of the male characters more than they have any substantial motives or arcs of their own, from yoko to onishi's wife and secretary and even ran and the doctor, eriko kaneda, who comparatively have far greater roles in the story are ultimately sidelined in a similar way. the first woman we see in the very first episode just serves to introduce us to ichise's and the world's brutish nature while not making much of her beyond her sexual desire and place as victim, which occurs again with a character that yoshi interacts with later on. i don't know if this is all part of some greater critique the story's presenting and i'm just too dumb to figure out, if the story is implicitly or explicitly endorsing this, or if it just rather uncharacteristically has nothing to say at all on this front. in any case though, this is probably a decent point to transition into the next section, so let's talk about #__characters btw__ img(https://files.catbox.moe/afsqmm.gif) our primary protagonist is ichise, who honestly came off as a blank canvas for much of this anime's run, only really coming into his own as the story progressed and he started to grapple with his place in the world and the changes he's undergone. now, the last two manga i completed - devilman and parasyte - featured protagonists who underwent roughly similar arcs, so it might be a bit of fatigue on my part but i never fully got behind ichise's journey even at his best moments. i already mentioned in the previous section that he does embody almost a primal human desire for survival, but beyond that he didn't have a whole lot going on and while this is just a matter of personal preference he was more of a reactive protagonist than a proactive one and that's something i usually have trouble with. just to explain what i mean by that a little in case you haven't come across that concept before, i mean he's reactive in the sense that plot happens to and around him more than it happens strictly because of him, at least until he finally settles on a choice towards the end. it's absolutely thematically appropriate but that doesn't necessarily make it satisfying or interesting to watch by any means especially when lots of characters just get inexplicably drawn to him like toyama and of course the doctor and even yoshi. something like angel's egg doesn't have characters so much as it has ideas and concepts cloaked as characters, but i don't feel that works out well with texhnolyze because it's 22 episodes as opposed to just something you can watch in one sitting under normal circumstances. ideally in all that time the audience should have some attachment to or care for your main character at the very least, but that doesn't happen here at least for me. onishi was a lot easier to get behind generally that's without him having had necessarily any major arc or growth. he's fundamentally the same person with the same ideals from where we meet him at the start of the story to the very end and it says a lot about the quality of the show's writing that that doesn't get stale or boring at any point, it's also probably a testament to the strength of his moral convictions. in general though the cast felt more than a little bloated and as a consequence i didn't even really remember the names of a lot of the characters. i mentioned doctor kaneda earlier, and i genuinely can't remember if her name is even actually used at any point and i had to look her and some other characters up on this site before typing this review. with the doctor specifically i found her to be fairly frustrating and that was in part because of how she just threw herself at ichise and also because of how often she inserted herself into really dangerous situations without any seeming awareness of or contingency for them. for someone so smart, she just came off as incredibly stupid more often than not, and her character arc can be summed up as "fuck around and find out" pretty much, because finding out the hard way is just what she did. sakimura was another fairly annoying character because he just always seemed to be wherever the plot needed him to be when it came to yoshi, the train, and the place at the end of the story. i also kinda expected that considering how the organo (one of the gangs i mentioned earlier) and the shapes were shown to act that they would've taken a more active interest in killing him when they had the chance, so things on that end were somewhat frustrating as well and inconsistent with the rest of the story. the relationships between some of the characters were also grossly underdeveloped, like the dynamic between ran and ichise in particular felt like the show was trying to gaslight me about her importance to him based on the interactions we actually saw them have. ran is also just taken in a kinda odd direction after kano is introduced but i suppose some people might appreciate how open ended a lot of that part of the story was in allowing us to interpret the nature and origin of her ability to see the future. #__general stuff and final score btw__ img(https://files.catbox.moe/afsqmm.gif) the show is directed and edited in a way that makes it stand out significantly among most anime i've seen, and even if aesthetically things can be rather drab and dreary it still has a very strong sense of artistic flourish because of how everything ties into the overall tone and ideas its going for. unfortunately though it does miss the mark at some points, especially with the fight scenes and action sequences. the fight between onishi and a certain character at the end of the story's first arc honestly felt disorienting, i had to rewind a few times because i thought the video glitched out or something because of the kinda random cuts and on top of that the actual fight left a lot to be desired. lots of fight scenes in this show are plagued in a similar way, and really lack a sense of weight or any kind of momentum, but there are some action sequences that are done in a more standard way especially towards the end and i honestly think it's an improvement. of course in all fairness the focus of the show isn't the action at all, so if you buy into it then some janky moments in that department aren't that much of a problem. another change that takes place as the story progresses is it goes from being more indirect and subtle to just layering on a lot more exposition and lore dumps, and that actually took away from some of its appeal. lots of anime and manga tend to be really heavy handed with delivering information about their characters, worlds and themes especially in the first episodes under the seeming impression that the audience wouldn't otherwise be sufficiently engaged, and this is an area where texhnolyze very effectively set itself apart from the crowd initially. the first half of the first episode had pretty much no dialogue at all and introduced characters, concepts and the world with nothing but basic visual details and sometimes quick cuts from one moment to the next. it was engaging, forced me to pay attention to as much of what i could see as possible and the approach made each episode feel so much shorter than they actually were as my mind scrambled to make sense of the snippets of information i was being presented with and what it all meant in context for the characters and thematically. so in the second half when we have a character just outright talking about his conception of a "sophisticated egoism" and we get some narration and dialogue that exists to make explicit what it had usually already successfully conveyed by other means, the show gets a bit tiring. nonetheless, between its more minimal moments and its heavier moments of exposition this story still presents an immersive experience and what does feel like a well realised world. img(https://files.catbox.moe/afsqmm.gif) overall texhnolyze lands a score of __79 out of 100__ because while it is an engaging and unique story in some respects, it only really shines when it comes to the ideas it presents and is a bit lacking in terms of characters. at its best moments it's unironically that __"this says a lot about our society"__ meme as an anime in the best way possible, but at its worst moments it's a mess of clumsy action sequences, one-dimensional characters and redundant dialogue. it's also worth mentioning that if you're not a fan of sexual content in anime or are uncomfortable with depictions of sexual assault regardless of how it's framed then you might wanna steer clear of watching this show. they're not Major elements but scenes like that are not so uncommon right from the very first episode here. nonetheless the good far outweighs the bad and if you don't mind generally slower shows then this is definitely a strong recommendation, but if you're into stuff that's a bit more energetic then maybe check out my review of the manga series [parasyte](https://anilist.co/review/14491) or my rant disguised as a review of netflix's [super crooks](https://anilist.co/review/14523).~~~
Personally, what I have grown tired of are the constant opinions that this is a depressing anime that only leaves people feeling hopeless and cynical. This is what Texhnolyze can be if seen on the surface. For me, it's truer intentions are couched under this. It's more of a revolutionary call towards finding meaning in your humanity, and in others. The series gives a hint of this right away in the first 20 seconds during the opening sequence. It shows Ichise on the ground, slowly getting up, and then standing up, raising his artificial fist into the air, despite his setbacks and lack of a real flesh and blood limbs. The characters, such as Ichise, left me feeling inspired. His drive to survive, and push forward through what he believes in absolutely motivated me. Even if he gets injured critically, or loses a limb, he doesn't give up. Regardless, he keeps going, as primal and stubborn as he can be, and grows. Other characters, some who meet unfortunate ends, die, but leave with a smile on their face. There was a sense of satisfaction that they lived to their fullest. Some characters like Oonishi and Yoshii, pushed with a revolutionary drive to prevent humans from their miserable and apathetic, downward spiral into extinction, at a time where mankind had reached a self-destructive all time low. The underground city of Lux is decaying and drowning under violence and misery. The surface world has reached a disturbing type of surreal state where humans have lost the will to live meaningfully, despite that their living conditions appear to look adequate. The people have suffered a death of the spirit, as how too many of us do today. As a result, the only thing they are waiting for and looking forward to is a slow death, despite looking happy and living peacefully. There was an experiment done several decades ago that some viewers eventually learn about because of this series. It's the "behavioral sink." In this study, a rat utopia was made. Despite that the rats were were given unlimited food, water, shelter, and safety, they eventually became self-destructive. Many began isolating themselves, cannibalism began appearing, they stopped mating dramatically, and the females began abandoning their babies. Ultimately, they went extinct. They died socially, and then physically. Texhnolyze shows a clear influence of this experiment in it's depiction of human societies. It's a warning to our own. The focus on material possessions, social media, and people spending their lives watching other's lives, has all partly added to people suffering a death of the spirit. In the series, Ichise talks to people, and though they seem happy, they have an empty look on their face. There's nothing there, but a drone like existence, devoid of meaning and spirit, doing the same thing, day in, and out, until they expire. People are either unconscious or conscious in their state of mind. It's not enough to have a brain. It should be constantly developed. Thinking should be done. Some people turn their brains off, and never turn them back on, or go on auto pilot, and never fully think for themselves. Almost no one on the surface level was questioning authority, or their miserable state. If someone never questions what deserves to be questioned, they'll come to accept anything. This leads to everyone thinking the same. If all the people in a society thought just alike and saw the world just alike, they thought no differently, one from the other, the society would be soon defeated because it would be uncreative, it would not be innovative; it would not be able to change its perspective of a problem in a way so they can solve it. The character who first took a great offense to this is Kazuho Yoshii. He came from the surface world, after becoming tired of seeing the people there become like emotionless ghosts. Throughout history, people are born who are unique, and different from the rest. They see things clearer, and are able to say and do the things that many cannot put into words or do themselves. They inspire, and try to radicalize the people in order to advance them and help them find meaning. They teach the people who is the enemy, and what should be done. Yoshii is an anomaly who is one of these people. Yoshii travels down below, and though the city of Lux has been stuck in an endless circle of gang warfare, he sees that they feel more human than the ones at the top. As result, he decided to try and channel this energy. He thought about who can become leaders, and instigated a great spectacle. His violent revolution was to destroy the order that was keeping the people down, and with enough organization, a better humanity could emerge from under the ashes. At some point, he says, "True freedom can't lean on anything. It's transient, lonely, and arduous. You can't hope for security or reward beyond it." Freedom and peace only exist temporarily. What he is saying here I agree with. Freedom is always under the threat of corrupt authoritative forces that try to manipulate laws in their favor. This has been done historically where democracies become so corrupted, that they become disguised as fascism. Struggling for freedom can be a lonely journey. Historical figures are known for being attacked by the state's media, and vilified as demons and violent criminals. Lastly, it's difficult. There is no easy struggle. Those who believe revolutionary struggle is easy are not ready for it. The second sentence interests me because it reminds me of people who think being a revolutionary means that there is a reward at the end, like fame or fortune. That's not true at all. Having that state of mind as a so called revolutionary is reactionary. People like that tend to sell out easily to those in power. People struggle for others, not themselves, and many don't really get appreciated until after their passing or assassination. Yoshi clearly shows that his character is inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's Ubermensch. He wants to enlighten the city of lux, a "sleeping people." He wants to show them the meaning of their existence, of their humanity, and to channel their energy into making them realize that they have power, and should learn how to use it for revolution against those that are holding them down, and causing their deplorable state. "You have to try to improve. You have to give more meaning to your meaningless life." Still, he does begin to let his fun start getting to his head, but he in his core is a man on mission. As the soundtrack calls him, "The Man Of Men." Not only that, in addition to his revolutionary ideas, he understands the importance of power. He warns Shinji that to stand up against an organized force, it can't be done with a disorganized gang. They have to become seriously organized and trained to fight. Without organization, their gang will operate too sloppy and amateurishly, and be outclassed by the organized enemy force. Additionally, Yoshii also has the mindset that you must think differently from your enemy. There's a saying that "Whatever the enemy is for, you must be against. Whatever the enemy is against, you must be for." This is because if you don't think diametrically opposed to your enemy, you will think that their interests are your interests, confusing you. Oonishi has a similar view point to Yoshii, though he feels much more tame. He works from within the order. Oonishi struggles to be a voice of reason and moral force. Sometimes it feels as if he is alone, as Yoshii stated earlier about struggle, and has the whole weight of Lux on his back. As I said earlier, he is also among the characters that have such a determined drive, that they struggle with all they can to be true to their principles and obligations towards the people. After the set up, and fiery first half, the series begins to flesh out more characters and political drama (I personally find the middle the weaker part of this series). Then, towards the last few episodes, it turns into a surrealist nightmare. One of the most memorable and impactful experiences in anime for me, is the introduction of the surface world, and how unsettling it is, despite not appearing that way. The staff reference a lot of art, and managed to make such as scary world up on top, it almost frightened me at times. Alongside this, is the soundtrack. It's one of the series that makes the best use of it's music, even if I don't personally like the music as standalone content, because it's used well in execution. The atmosphere in Texhnolyze, and world building is done so well that I felt I was down there personally living in Lux, and the surface world, during the time I watched the series. The staff did really well in teaching me the world of Texhnolyze, how it works, the inner politics, and really drove that horrid feel of Lux and the surface world into my mind. It's frighteningly and harshly immersive, to the extent, I have a map of several locations in my head. Despite the danger, I learned how to live and survive there. The last part of Texhnolyze I want to talk about, is the ending, because it's very special to me. It's when the series decides to really break you. There is a sincerity to it though, if you really think about it. I came to really appreciate the struggle of the characters, and what their goals and aspirations really meant during those last moments. I broke down because the meaning behind the conclusion is painfully beautiful. It may be odd to admit, but I needed time to sit back, and let it sink in, because I felt drained and heavy. Texhnolyze is a series important as a study of mankind, that I think about it pretty often. Yoshii taught me a lot, and for me to try to do better myself, and to find as much a meaningful life as I can. It's a special case where an anime can really teach and speak to the viewer on a personal level. Don't feel so down at the end, because the series is shaking you to wake you up with it's real message. The feeling at the end of Texhnolyze, after some thought, felt to me like a text book example of the saying, "only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars."
While being constantly tragic and painful, Texhnolyze is, in the end, utterly hopeful. The show is intimate and personal in its portrayal of every character, instead of focussing on any broad theme. Where Texhnolyze stands out most is its ability to avoid reducing any character to a mouthpiece of any given theme. Every inhabitant of Lux, or the miserable outside, is clearly defined by their own history and experiences, becoming a multifaceted representation of a certain mindset, with a clear path to adopting that perspective. This thesis allows for the ending to be more poignant with the final conclusion of a character like Ichise, after seeing what he went through. Despite being a central figure in the first section of the show, Yoshii remains a somewhat mysterious figure until near the finale. He is initially contrasted from Keigo, as someone clearly at the bottom of the ladder, eating scraps in the slums, while cutting to Keigo in his high tower. This expectation is turned on its head when a more detailed characterisation of both becomes clear. Yoshii comes from outside, living among the people of Lux and seeming to empathise with them, but looks down on the city as a lost cause, and chooses to exterminate its people out of a twisted hope in humanity’s potential, which he believes Lux has utterly failed to realise. Keigo, however, is shown to rely on the will of the city itself, wishing to serve the people from above by finding the ideal way forward, whereas Yoshii condescends towards the city from below. Despite being in a position of power, Keigo is shown to have a great sense of empathy. He is more visibly caring towards his wife than almost any other character in the show is, and thus his belief in the voice of the city is justified by the existence of Ran, a girl who is eventually revealed to be a literal human representation of Lux itself. His empathy informs his view of Texhnolyzation, not regarding it as dehumanising in any way. He feels no shame in Texhnolyzed limbs, as long as he can still hear the voice that he follows. The doctor demonstrates a more intimate relationship to Texhnolyzation, fetishising Ichise as a doll that she holds complete power over, and can experiment on. She is obsessed with control, wishing to use Texhnolyzation to construct her vision of evolution in humanity, but we eventually see that this obsession is borne from her estrangement from the Class, where she came from, as they no longer welcome her as one of their own. Her belief in Texhnolyzation as the next step in evolution is borne from a sense of inadequacy compared to the Class, and to her perception of the outside world. Among others, these characters and their histories, as well as their perspectives on Texhnolyzation, allow the show to reach a conclusion primarily about the different things these people put their faith in, and strip away all meaning from those things, one by one. The doctor is disillusioned when she is rejected by the Class, and sees the outside world full of fading ghosts, rejecting the faith she had in Texhnolyzation, and admitting her lie about Ichise’s mother being a part of his new limbs. Yoshii is revealed as a former citizen of the outside world, despairing at its dying state, and choosing to come seek the real humanity under the ground, then losing his faith when what he found did not match his expectations. Gabe believed they could distance themselves from Lux. They believed in Ran’s prophecy of destruction and rebirth, and Ichise as the arbiter of that prophecy.They were wrong, however, about both of them, and could not escape destruction in the end. Keigo recognises that the voice of the city he trusted in for so long was always fallible, but that brings him comfort in the end. He died knowing that he did not fall to madness, or lose his empathy, always retaining trust in that ultimately human voice. Ichise is the Messiah of Lux, and a figure that singularly proves the existence of hope in the city’s demise, where everyone else’s beliefs have come to nothing but destruction. While his limbs may not have come from his own mother, they came from the doctor instead, allowing her to give him new life, as a sort of Mary. Ichise’s limbs and life serve as proof that her faith in him as her creation was not unfounded. When Yoshii tries to destroy the people of Lux, the city itself seems to reject him, killing him, but resurrecting Ichise from its depths. Ran follows him after this, believing specifically in Ichise as her saviour. He ascends to the aboveground, and she falls to the rapidly spreading views of those remaining underground. In the chaos in Lux, everything people believed in is overturned, and everyone searches for a broader answer, some way out of death. Many fall on the dystopian conclusion of being a half conscious being, rooted to the ground in an eternal purgatory. Ichise, however, returns for Ran, allowing her to truly move on from the ruined world. Ichise is a Messiah to some, but like every other character, he is ultimately deeply human. We see him act in kindness and anger, and go through immense pain and misery. In spite of this, seeing everyone’s beliefs overturned and losing everyone else in the world, Ichise retains hope through the connections he made. The world has completely stopped making sense, but the Ichise’s empathy and his principles matter, even in a world where they shouldn’t. In his final moments, he sees an image of a rose, a thank you from the doctor and from Ran, for saving them, and he sits in comfort that he achieved something for other people. Ichise experienced the worst of humanity, being treated as a dog or puppet by most, but never faltered in his overarching belief that living as a human, and dying a human, was all worthwhile.
# I nonluoghi dell'alienazione eterna ~~~img220(https://myanimelist.net/images/anime/1027/131977.jpg) ~~~ A volte si ha la sensazione che le opere d’arte sembrino dei pesci fuor d’acqua nelle antologie in cui appaiono, come se, raccontando una storia dell’animazione isolata da tutto il resto, un’opera come __Texhnolyze__ risultasse pressoché aliena, nonostante sia anche evidente che non è nata dal nulla. Ed è vero, è impossibile concepire una storia di qualsiasi arte senza che vi siano collegamenti tra una disciplina e un’altra, specialmente in un’arte che si basa sia sull’immagine che sul sonoro. Però si può dire che, tendenzialmente, in un’arte nata nel capitalismo come la settima, si cerca di circoscrivere a sottotesti e citazioni i riferimenti ad altre discipline per mantenere l’opera fruibile anche per chi si interessa solo a quella, in poche parole rendendo la comprensione dei riferimenti facoltativa. Ebbene, una parte dell’originalità di Texhnolyze sta nell’aver cambiato l’approccio con cui la serialità animata (e forse non solo quella) vede i riferimenti, ma andiamo con ordine. La trama di Texhnolyze, anime original con autori principali __Chiaki J. Konaka__, __Yoshitoshi ABe__ e __Yasuyuki Ueda__, è essenzialmente questa: siamo a __Lux__, una città sotterranea e fantascientifica ma degradata, gestita da cinque gruppi: 1) __La Classe__: un’ignota casta di persone della superficie che, tramite l’Organo, governa Lux. 2) __L’Organo__: comandato da __Onishi__, è il governo della città che basa la sua importanza sui contatti con la mafia e il contrabbando delle protesi (i texhnolyze) per i mutili. 3) __L’Unione__: comandata da __Genji__, è un gruppo di ribelli verso l’Organo, di cui valori si basano sul mettere la collettività sopra l’individuo. 4) __Rakan__: comandato da __Shinji__, è un collettivo di giovani teppisti anarcoidi che cercano le minori responsabilità possibili per poter essere liberi e vivere di svago. 5) __Gabe__: “comandato” da __Ran__, è un gruppo di fedeli riunitisi intorno a lei, in quanto capace di vedere il futuro. Nel corso della serie, seguiamo i contenziosi tra questi collettivi, soprattutto attraverso i loro leader e quello che è sulla carta il protagonista della storia: __Ichise__, personaggio che non ha una vera appartenenza ma che è un lottatore mutilo e rabbioso, in cerca della sua strada. Il mondo di Texhnolyze è una __distopia__ che sembra quasi post-apocalittica nel suo retrofuturismo e nella sua vaghezza di riferimenti al nostro mondo reale, eppure è anche questo il suo fascino: il mondo di Lux vive in una luce artificiale e smorta, la macchina da presa come nel cinema indulge nel mostrarne gli edifici in inquadrature sghembe e contemplative, cercando una ripetitività in molti casi alienante che dona all’ambientazione un senso di malsano perenne, moltiplicato dalla bassa definizione quasi come in una serie d’epoca che dona all’opera un senso di squallido realismo difficile da trovare persino nelle opere realistiche in carne ed ossa, ma al contempo quella scarsa definizione, quei paesaggi vagamente a-la __De Chirico__ e la messa in scena abulica danno l’idea di una serie dal ritmo complesso da digerire, non semplicemente poiché profondo e sperimentale ma poiché vuole sacrificare tutte le strutture canoniche della narrazione per un modo di raccontare puramente per immagini, suoni e la lentezza alienante del ritmo, a sfavore della trama, delle strutture, dei dialoghi che sono spesso secondari per rappresentare un senso di circolarità della storia e di capovolgimento dello zen. Se nello zen vero la dilatazione contemplativa viene usata per porre con serenità l’accento sulle piccole cose della vita (esempi: Kitchen di Banana Yoshimoto o il recente Perfect Days di Wenders), qui la dilatazione è nichilistica, serve a plasmare un’atmosfera dove persino la morte e la perdita di libero arbitrio smettono di generare emozioni negative di tipo violento nello spettatore, verso una condizione sempre sospesa tra straniamento, malinconia e depressione, in questo modo arriva verso un concetto di avanguardia diverso rispetto a quello di __Serial Experiments Lain__ (degli stessi autori) o Neon Genesis Evangelion, poiché sfrutta un impianto estetico più tradizionale per aumentare il disagio dello spettatore, puntando su una trama più sfilacciata e su un'atmosfera più minimalista. Questo tipo di rigore atmosferico di Texhnolyze ha più a che fare con certi libri più sperimentali o film con Stalker o l’Ultimo Anno a Marienbad che con gli anime per come li conosciamo (non è detto che lo studio li conoscesse, ma non è questo il punto), cosa che non porta a spersonalizzare il medium anime con peculiarità del cinema in carne ed ossa perché erano possibili fin dall’inizio, ma piuttosto dimostra come queste cosiddette peculiarità non siano in realtà proprie del cinema, ma piuttosto siano state ignorate nel mondo degli anime per la loro anti-commercialità intrinseca, al punto da non creare radici vere e proprie in quel settore ed è proprio in questo che Texhnolyze è innovativo e pressoché alieno: il suo impianto di riferimento è più tipico dei film o dei romanzi, pur avendo tutte le caratteristiche di un anime e ciò lo rende nell'insieme diverso anche dai prodotti degli altri media. Un altro aspetto fondamentale è l’idea che la serie abbia una filosofia di fondo espressa nella stessa esistenza di quei gruppi e di quei leader, che si basano su idee molto semplici, atte a sintetizzare certe dinamiche del nostro mondo reale: l’Organo è sostanzialmente una meritocrazia illusoria e capitalistica, l’Unione il socialismo, Gabe è la religione come palliativo delle coscienze, Rakan è il tipico spirito del consumismo travestito da ribellione dell’adolescenza; guardando la serie si ha la sensazione che tutte e quattro le fazioni abbiano ragione e torto allo stesso tempo, alcune di più e altre di meno, ma comunque tutte sono circondate da un senso d’incertezza e di alienazione che pervade in primo luogo il protagonista Ichise, che è una decostruzione del concetto di protagonista: è passivo e povero di qualità, autonomia, autoconsapevolezza, manca tutto ciò che normalmente si cerca in questa figura, anche nel tipico protagonista cattivo e criminale di alcuni noir che si contraddistingue per avere comunque più sicurezza morale, è immorale ma mai amorale. Ichise è nient’altro che la vittima e l’incarnazione del determinismo che sottende tutto Texhnolyze ed è per questo che è stato scelto come protagonista: il suo essere mina vagante lo porta ad essere l’unico che ha a che fare con tutti i personaggi, in più è l’anima della storia. ~!Lo scopo della serie non è farci immedesimare in lui (come anche per gli altri che devono incarnare la deformazione impenetrabile di questo mondo senza libero arbitrio), ma usarlo come mezzo per immergerci nella serie, mentre invece __Yoshii__ è il vero protagonista: l’unico che svolge la funzione canonica di questa figura, che sia buono o cattivo, ma è per questo il vero alieno nella serie perché l’unico a imporre la sua volontà di potenza, per utilizzare un giusto termine di Nietzsche, di cui filosofia è stata intravista da più di un recensore che ha trattato Texhnolyze, è lui per molti aspetti il vero (anti)eroe della serie e colui che mostra come il nichilismo dell’opera non sia gratuito: è possibile che l’umanità diventi padrona della propria vita, ma per farlo è necessario avere abbastanza forza di volontà e orgoglio per poter farcela da soli, nonostante sia stato ucciso il suo è stato un finale almeno in parte positivo: la sua morta è avvenuta con la coscienza apposto nel tentare di risvegliare un’umanità indolente e rassegnata, con la consapevolezza di aver trovato il proprio senso di esistere. I collettivi che rappresentano ideologie e i loro capi dalla caratterizzazione distinta sono insomma nient’altro che i fantasmi di un _nonluogo_ __noir__ condannato ad un determinismo perenne che trova il suo completamento nella superficie, dall’estetica assolata che ricorda i dipinti di __Hopper__ e ancora più alienata, quest'idea di nonluogo suggerita anche dalla prospettiva metanarrativa che nasce dall’idea del villain finale __Kano__ per cui il mondo viene dalla sua immaginazione, sulla quale può per questo fare di tutto. Il sotterraneo non è che una sorta di simbolico oltretomba dove sono relegati gli scarti della società, i poveri e i criminali che non appartengono al conformismo fastoso della superficie, in questo senso la serie aumenta notevolmente in lungimiranza nell’ultima parte e completa il significato dell’azione di un capolavoro nel capolavoro che è il personaggio di Yoshii: entrare nella classe viene considerato un privilegio, un’ascesa sociale ma, se quel mondo di villette assolate e bellezze naturali è ridotto ad una ricchezza che non lenisce la depressione, è proprio un mondo di maggiori sofferenze, passioni e tumulti che risulta più redimibile rispetto ad un ceto che non riesce più a provare gioia in nessuna maniera e non vuole “abbassarsi” e immischiarsi con l’abisso per cambiare semplicemente perché non ha più la forza di cambiare. La morte di Yoshii nell’__episodio 10__ è il vero finale della serie, il resto è un lamento di un fantasma che nella linea di confine tra aldiquà e aldilà cerca vanamente di tornare alla vita, in questo rompendo ancora una volta i canoni strutturali, senza che però che ciò che viene dopo sia inutile: al contrario, gli ultimi episodi sono i più belli, ci fanno scoprire che quel “__conclusion__” con cui è nominato l’episodio è veramente tale solo da lì in poi, con una chiusura che fa quadrare tutto, facendo sentire il peso di ciò che non è potuto avvenire, è una rottura dei tradizionali canoni della narratologia che pongono l’accento su ciò che è avvenuto rispetto a ciò che sarebbe potuto avvenire. In questo senso, Texhnolyze è un anime profondamente politico, perché rompe tutte le possibili idealizzazioni e il senso delle ideologie con il monito di uno specchio deformato che riflette in maniera potenziata i problemi esistenti nella società contemporanea, incarna ciò a cui potrebbe portare l’indifferenza massificata, raschia tutte queste illusioni per far capire la strada da percorrere: quello che serve per arrivare al vero cambiamento è una trasformazione di massa nello spirito prima che delle istituzioni e della religione, una coscienza del mondo prima ancora che una spinta della forza di volontà, perché personaggi come Onishi hanno uno spirito d’altruismo e un buon cuore ma non hanno una consapevolezza vera di ciò di cui ha bisogno la società e di come realizzare questo cambiamento. In conclusione, Texhnolyze è un capolavoro d’avanguardia __cyberpunk__ che valica per ambizione ogni auto-limitazione del suo medium, con un rigore oltranzista nella struttura e nella messa in scena non fine a sé stesso ma funzionale alla filosofia della storia, che mira a rendere l'atmosfera una sorta di stato d'animo, grazie ad un minimalismo perenne fin dal design dei personaggi intenzionalmente semplice così come le animazioni e tutto il resto, in funzione del contenuto quasi monastico nella sua mortificazione terrena e nella sua estetica intenzionalmente grezza e a bassa definizione. Da questo punto di vista, le protesi che danno titolo alla serie assumono un valore di allegoria di qualcosa che si nutre della vita e distorce l’anima dopo aver tamponato i problemi in maniera illusoria come una botta di dopamina, in una situazione che vanifica l'importanza dei beni materiali e delle ideologie rispetto ad uno stato d'animo e un'ispirazione vitale che deve prescindere il più possibile dalle influenze del mondo esterno. In questo senso, è proprio un personaggio antieroico come Yoshii a dare un insegnamento disperato come una parabola biblica da non prendere sul letterale in un mondo dove nulla è bianco o nero, ma tutto è grigio e irrecuperabile.!~